Shine Bright
by Rosielocks
Summary: Cadence is used to having the seizures. They only happened when she was terrified, but somebody was always there to help her. Once they're over, she doesn't remember what happened while she had them. She prayed her whole life for something to take her away from her boring life. When she is attacked by a ventus and thrust into the world she wanted, she's not sure she wants to play.


**A/N**-Hello, my lovelies! This is pretty much my first story that I'm going to try really hard to keep going. I'd love some pointers, but please, no flames. This is sorta after _The Last Olympian_.

**Disclaimer-**I don't own these characters, other than ones I have created, yada yada yada. It's fanfiction, my lovelies ^_^

~XxX~

Cadence's POV

My first thought was that the hall was huge. The orchestra's sound would carry on much longer than normal, so following the sound of her peers wasn't going to cut it. It might be a bit better once people actually showed up, but until then, rehearsal was really going to suck.

I was glad she wasn't first chair. Playing Copland's Hoe-Down would not be fun from that damnable, evil chair. I was looking forward to hiding in the back, behind the other players, but I got stuck in the next most terrifying chair, at the head of the second violins. I turned to my stand partner, Kassie, silently begging with my eyes to help at my first rehearsal.

Kassie was a short, tiny girl, and one of the best players. Her entire family was musically inclined, which helped her to be so damn awesome, in my opinion. Kassie smiled back at me, tying up her straight black hair.

_ She's lucky she doesn't have to deal with this mess_, I thought, blowing a piece of frizzy, curly hair out of my face. Then the door slammed open, and _he _walked in. The room fell silent, watching the man as he stepped up on the pedestal, laying his papers on the stand. He was tall, bald, and gave a death stare.

Now I really, _really_ didn't want to be in that seat. I didn't want to be this close to him. He even _smelled _bad.

_ Just one week with this guy, a concert, and I can go back home_, I thought. I was nervous, going to camp for the first time. I had never left home for that long before, and I was a Mama's Girl.

As rehearsal went on, I got more and more uncomfortable with the conductor. He was yelling at our section a lot more than I was used to. _No shit, Cadence. You're in the lead. _After three hours, we were released to go to lunch.

Half of the teenagers raced out of the room, trying to beat the others to lunch. The other half knew they'd never make it. I followed Kassie to our cases to put our violins away.

"He's freaky," Kassie whispered in a low voice, our backs turned towards the conductor. I nodded in agreement. "I heard he doesn't even play a string instrument. He plays flute," she continued.

"Well," I said, "that's not as bad as it could be. My school's orchestra teacher started out with flute, too."

Kassie snorted, holding back a smile. "Your teacher _started_ on flute. That's all _he _plays," she said, nodding her head towards the man who was now watching them, arms crossed. I slammed my case shut, almost tripping over Kassie's ankle to get out of there. One last glance, and I swore she saw a wisp of black smoke come out of his ear. _This is going to be a long week._

~XxX~

Cadence's POV, One week later

The audience clapped as the orchestra came out on stage. Taking their seats, we waited for the conductor to walk his butt up there. As they waited, I looked for my mom out in the audience. I had scanned the entire mass of people before I found her, and had started to get worried. She sat a little to the left, from where I was sitting. She looked like your normal everyday mom, in jeans and a nice top, with curly brown hair that went down her back. I had always longed for my mother's easy to manage hair, but mine was never cooperative. I used to wear it long, but it was such a pain that I chopped it to just above her shoulders.

As I kept looking through the audience, I saw two teenagers, obviously in love, sitting towards the back. I was a bit surprised, since I wasn't expecting people that young to show up. I assumed one had a sibling in the orchestra. The guy looked like one of the bass players, the same messy black hair and green eyes. Who knew.

The orchestra stood as the conductor stepped out onto the stage, the audience clapping. The sound was... _off_ in the hall. I had tried to get used to it, but it was just weird.

He motioned for us to sit, and the concert began.

~XxX~

After too many heart-pounding minutes and 7 pieces of music, it was done. We stood and bowed, the front desks shaking hands with the conductor. I put on a brave face and followed suit, but his hand was like a death-grip. I was shocked when I saw more smoke come out his ear, just like the first day. He snarled at me, then continued making his way around.

Kassie was ecstatic. She loved being in the spotlight like this, even if we were all in it with her. We began packing up our instruments, and greeting our families. Kassie dragged me over to meet her little sisters. There were five of them, and her father was holding the youngest, who was just a baby.

"That was amazing!" Kassie's father said. "And in one week! Goodness," he said, steering Kassie away. I went back to get my violin and walked out to greet my mom. As I rounded a corner, I ran into a chest. A big, hard chest. I frantically began apologizing when I glanced up and almost dropped my case. I had slammed into the conductor, who was glaring at me. Then I thought I heard him... _growl_?

"Sorry, Mr. Richards. I didn't see you there," I mumbled, attempting to be calm, but my instincts were screaming at me to run.

He began growling again, deep in his chest. He was just about to make a grab at me when I heard a voice behind him.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you," the voice said, obviously female. Mr. Richardson whirled around, smoke pouring out of his ears now. I got a glimpse of the girl. Blonde curly hair tied back in a ponytail, black pants, and a white top. She held a knife in her hand.

Mr. Richardson laughed coldly. "And why not, _Daughter of Athena_," he sneered.

I slid down the wall, trying to get to a position where I could be as small as possible. Which wasn't very small.

The girl started to walk towards the conductor, each step careful and measured. As she got closer, Mr. Richardson began to morph. Into a younger boy. His bald head began sprouting dark hair. And that's when Cadence lost it, and screamed. The_... thing _turned towards her and slammed her into the wall. From ten feet away.

I whacked my head on the wall, and slid until I was slumped on my behind. I struggled to keep conscious, white spots dancing in my eyes.

The girl charged him, screaming something I couldn't hear through the ringing in my ears. He leaned forward, and she went flying, hitting the opposite wall. She didn't get up.

He turned back towards his real prey. Sauntering up to me, he reached down and grabbed me by the throat, lifting me back up the wall. I struggled in his grip, clawing at his hand. He was much stronger than me. Wind was whipping my hair and clothes around.

_ Wind? _I thought, the normal thoughts I had when my brain shut down in moments of terror. That's when the searing pain hit me like a freight train.

~XxX~

Percy's POV

Later, Annabeth would scream at me for two hours about why I was late. The truth? I got lost. The building was huge. I was supposed to intercept the ventus before he got to the girl. I tried to follow my nose (literally) but the placed reeked anyway, it was hard to pick out the monster, which wasn't normal. But when I heard the shouting, I knew where I was. The wrong end of the building.

I raced down the halls, shoved through the crowd of people who went to see their children perform. I caught snippets of conversations.

"It was really good!"

"Jack was so scared of his solo..."

"Elizabeth's just excited to go home..."

I pushed people aside, trying to get to Annabeth. Well, the girl, too. But mostly Annabeth. It wasn't necessarily nice, but it was true.

I saw Annabeth first, crumpled on the floor in a heap. The ventus had the girl by her throat. She was flailing. I ran to Annabeth and checked for a pulse.

_ Of course she has a pulse, you idiot. She's Annabeth, _I thought, cursing myself at my stupidity and slowness.

I uncapped Riptide, and was ready to charge when the room got considerably brighter. Like, a lot. I stopped in my tracks. The girl was... I don't know what she was. It was like her mouth, eyes, nose, and ears had been replaced with flashlights. She was _shining light _out of them. Then she reached up with a speed that made me jealous and peeled his hand away from her throat. He stepped back in obvious shock. Landing lightly on the floor, the girl began advancing on the ventus, her face a look of absolute hatred. She lunged out to punch him, and her hand passed right through him. The ceiling seemed to open up with a thunder storm as his body began to twist and turn towards the ceiling His laughter followed him as he left, his voice not far behind.

"We are not done, demigod," he said. The girl stood there, breathing heavily, the light shining from her mouth bobbing slightly in the room. She blinked a couple of times, and it looked like a car flashing it's lights. She tilted her head back like she was singing and collapsed on the spot. I barely managed to reach her before her head hit the ground, which I gingerly set down. I was alone, stage props and glass thrown across the floor, with two unconscious demigods.

~XxX~

**A/N**-So, what'd you think? Enough potential to keep going? Please leave me a review, but no flames! I feel like Frank. Also, did I have many typos? It's really hard for me to check, and I don't have a beta yet =/ Anywho, let me know what you thought, my lovelies! ^_^


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